Matti Suuronen (14 June 1933 – 16 April 2013) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

who is best known for designing the

Futuro A Futuro house, or Futuro Pod, is a round, prefabricated house designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, of which fewer than 100 were built during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The shape, reminiscent of a flying saucer, and the structure's ...

and

Venturo Venturo or Venturo House is a prefabricated house designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in 1971. It is composed of fiberglass-reinforced polyester plastic, polyester-polyurethane, and acrylic glass. In the late 1960s Suuronen became known ...

homes in the Casa Finlandia series. The marvelous design of the Futuro went into production in both

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and worldwide under license in various colors,

upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...

, and number of seats and rooms. Furthermore, Suuronen is also internationally known for designing buildings (especially the Futuro and Venturo), which made the novel use of materials such as

polyester resin Polyester resins are synthetic resins formed by the reaction of dibasic organic acids and polyhydric alcohols. Maleic anhydride is a commonly used raw material with diacid functionality in unsaturated polyester resins. Unsaturated polyester resins ...

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

, and acrylic windows. Apart from the Futuro and Venturo homes, Suuronen additionally designed several buildings such as apartments, detached and terraced homes, offices, kiosks, petrol stations, and public and industrial buildings. Suuronen's designs have been installed around the world, including such locations as the

Centraal Museum The Centraal Museum is the main museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, founded in 1838. The museum has a wide-ranging collection, mainly of works produced locally. The collection of the paintings by the Northern Mannerist Joachim Wtewael is by a lon ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

Life and career

Matti Johannes Suuronen was born on 14 June 1933 in

Lammi Lammi ( sv, Lammi, also ) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 2009-01-01. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality had a population ...

, a former municipality of Finland. During the late 1950s, he participated in a four-day workshop, where he familiarized himself with glass-reinforced polyester plastics. Suuronen became interested in the new raw material, which he later used as designing material in future projects. He worked at several practices between 1955 and 1961 while studying

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

. Suuronen graduated from

Helsinki University of Technology Helsinki University of Technology (TKK; fi, Teknillinen korkeakoulu; sv, Tekniska högskolan) was a technical university in Finland. It was located in Otaniemi, Espoo in the metropolitan area of Greater Helsinki. The university was founded in ...

in 1961 and established his own

architectural firm In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countri ...

the same year. He received his first experience of glass-reinforced polyester plastics in 1964, when he got the opportunity to design a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

of eight meters in diameter to cover a

grain silo A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes ...

located in

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bru ...

. In 1965, Matti Suuronen was asked by his former schoolmate, Dr. Jaakko Hiidenkari, to design a ski cabin that would be “quick to heat and easy to construct in rough terrain.” The project was called the After-Ski cabin. Having already been familiar with the use of fiberglass-reinforced polyester plastic in the past, Suuronen used this material in his project to produce the cabin. In addition, the house would consist of 16 pieces that were to be bolted together to form the floor, roof, and shape of the house. This would allow the project to be assembled on site or even be airlifted in one piece by helicopter on site. The ultimately ellipsoidal building shell was based on the decision for a mathematically determinable shape with optimal volume. The contract for constructing it was ultimately awarded to Polykem Ltd., a company that specializes in the manufacturing of

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

and

neon signs In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Dece ...

, following a competitive offer to whoever would built the cabin. The end result was a universally transportable home that had the ability to be mass replicated and situated in almost any environment. The first ever mass-produced home by Suuronen was Futuro no. 001, which was owned by Finnish

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Matti Kuusla and formerly located in

Hirvensalmi Hirvensalmi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities: Joutsa, Kangasniemi ...

, Finland. However, the installation of the house on the wooded shore of Lake Puulavesi caused a local outcry. Nevertheless, the house would make an international breakthrough in October 1968 when the third Futuro (no. 002) was displayed at the Finnfocus 68 fair in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Capitalizing on the Futuro's international exposure, Polykem Ltd. soon launched a whole series of plastic buildings designed by Suuronen. The Casa Finlandia series included the CF-100/200 service station (1969), the CF-10

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

(1970) and the CF-45

residential A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

commercial building Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

, better known as

(1971). All buildings in the Case Finlandia series were designed to be durable and convenient to mass-produce, transport, and assembled on site. Matti Suuronen Venturo

In 1969, Suuronen designed the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...

service station in

Lempäälä Lempäälä (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in the Pirkanmaa region of Finland with inhabitants (). Lempäälä is located south of the city of Tampere. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Th ...

, which was made from the same materials used in the Futuro. According to old advertisements, Lempäälä was the first in the filling station series to be completed. Three more Gulf stations were produced and erected in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

, and

Kemi Kemi (; sme, Giepma ; smn, Kiemâ; sms, Ǩeeʹmm; Swedish (historically): ''Kiemi'') is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio and the Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and to Rovani ...

. The last two stations have double the space that covers an area of .

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

ing

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

have noted that some of these early works, such as Suuronen's innovative petrol station design in Lempäälä, suffered long-term performance problems due to the material limitations of early composites. In 1971, Suuronen designed the Venturo, the last fiberglass-reinforced polyester plastic building in the Casa Finlandia series. Originally conceived as a

weekend house A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...

or bungalow, the Venturo were conveniently used as banks, kiosks,

cafés A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

, filling stations, and much more. However, the Casa Finlandia series would be a short-lived success. The

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

resulted in gasoline prices to skyrocket, which caused the manufacturing of plastic to be expensive. Because of this the costs of manufacturing plastic buildings rose prohibitively. Suuronen continued designing standard buildings through the latter of the 20th century.

Personal life

Throughout his life, Suuronen had been keen on the sport of

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and was part of Finland's national league. He married

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, Sirkku, and had three children. He also designed his own home for the family, as well as designing his own architectural studio within the residency. Suuronen spent his final years short of money. In addition, Suuronen had several health issues and didn't have the energy to further pursue designing. Suuronen's daughter, Sari, stated to

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

that:

''He uuronenwas always very optimistic about his health. He played volleyball up until his last operation. He never lost his vivid, creative mind and his lust for creating something more for the world.

Suuronen died from a lengthy illness on 16 April 2013 in

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

, Finland at age 79. He had

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, as well as

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

and respiratory problems.

Selected works

Selected works from Matti Suuronen by E. Vanhakoski. * 1963, Hankkija Silo and Storage,

, Finland * 1963, Suuronen's Studio and Residence, Westendintie 43,

, Finland * 1964, Kauppa-Tammer, Hämeenkatu 5,

, Finland * 1965, Two-Family House, Marjaniemenranta 24,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland * 1965, Sigma Oy Office and Storage,

, Finland * 1968, Valmet Oy Instrument Factory, Osuusmyllynkatu 13, Tampere, Finland * 1969, Gulf Service Station No. 1, Helsingintie 991,

, Finland * 1969, Gulf Service Station No. 2, Tampere, Finland * 1969, Starckjohann Storage Centre,

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

, Finland * 1970, Gulf Service Station No. 3, Vanamontie 13,

, Finland * 1970, Gulf Service Station No. 4, (),

, Finland * 1971, Apartment Houses, Aulangontie 26–30,

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

, Finland * 1975, Mäntykero Industrial Building,

Mäntyharju Mäntyharju (, literally 'Pine Ridge') is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The coastline is almost . The population density ...

, Finland * 1980, Mäntykero-sauna, Mäntyharju, Finland

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suuronen, Matti 1933 births 2013 deaths People from Hämeenlinna Finnish architects Modernist architects